How To Use Dimensions

Table Of Contents

1. What You’ll Learn
2. Why Use Dimensions?
3. See It In Action
4. How To
5. How To Create A Dimension    
   1. How To Tag Objects With Dimensions    
6. Want To Know More?

What You’ll Learn

In this article, we’ll show you how to:

• Create dimensions, so you can tag or label objects (like keywords and creatives) in your account with custom tags — and manage, track and report on them like never before.
• Tag objects with the dimensions you’ve created.
• Make changes to dimensions that already exist in your account.

Handy Tip

Dimensions are independent of your account structure, so they will never be pushed to the publisher. You can use dimensions to categorize your objects in all-new ways.

Why Use Dimensions?

Organizing all of your objects (keywords, creatives, etc.) can be a real challenge, especially if they range into the tens or even hundreds of thousands.

That’s why dimensions are so useful. By tagging an object with a dimension, you can segment and categorize your objects in all-new ways. Want to filter by color, shape, model, or size? A dimension can help you do this and much more. Think of your dimensions as handy labels that let you manage, track and report on your objects better than ever before.

The powerful dimensions feature is built into the Platform, so you can get started creating your own dimensions right away — and below we’ll show you how to do just that.

See It In Action

Join Marin Software team member Rob Taylor as he explains how to use dimensions so you can become the master of all the objects in your account.

Click the play button to get started. We recommend viewing the video in full-screen. (Length: 2:29).

How To

Prefer to follow these instructions in step-by-step form? Not a problem. Here’s a quick guide on how to create dimensions, as well as links for learning how to tag your objects with those dimensions.

How To Create A Dimension

Creating your first dimension is a piece of cake. Just follow these simple steps:

1. First, simply click the Adminlink in the upper-right of the Platform.
2. Next, navigate to the Dimensionssub-tab. 
3. On this screen you’ll see a grid. Click Create(the blue ‘plus’ icon above the grid).

4. Give your new dimension a name. For example, if your campaigns related to cars, you might pick Make, Model or Year.
5. You can also enter a Descriptionif you’d like. However, please make sure that you do not use a dimension name that’s already a Platform column header (such as Creative Type) — as this can cause problems.
6. You can open the Advanced Settings section to choose which type of dimension you’d like to create. Tagging Only mode provides faster performance, but only by using Tagging and Rollup mode will this dimension be given a sub-tab of its very own under the main Dimensions tab and other features which can be useful for advanced reporting. Find out more in our dedicated Support article. 

7. Finally, click Save and your new dimension will appear in the grid. Pretty easy, huh?

​You may notice that once you’ve created your first dimension, the main Dimensions tab will be enabled at the top of the main screen.

How To Tag Objects With Dimensions

Now that you’ve created a dimension, you’ll want to tag objects with it so that you can start enjoying the advanced reporting features it brings. You can tag objects via single-edit, multi-edit or bulk-edit depending on your needs.

Use the links below to jump to the exact section you need in our more in-depth dimensions article to learn more about these options:

• Single-edit
• Multi-edit
• Bulk edit

Want To Know More?

If you still have questions about dimensions, here are some options for you to consider.

• Read our in-depth article about Dimensions
• Read about the Advanced Settings for Dimensions

A Guide To Using Dimensions

Table Of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Why Use Dimensions?
3. Dimension Use Cases
4. How To Create A New Dimension
5. How To Tag Dimensions
   1. Multi-Edit
   2. Bulk Upload
   3. Single Edit
   4. Inheriting Dimensions
   5. FTP
6. How To Untag Dimensions
7. How To Change Tagged Dimension Values
8. Known Limitations
9. Advanced Settings For Dimensions
10. Best Practices
11. Important Notes

Introduction

Dimensions are a means of tracking, reporting, and managing campaigns, groups, creatives, and keywords independent of account structure. Objects can be tagged with multiple dimensions; these tags exist solely within the application and will never be pushed to the publisher.

Why Use Dimensions?

• Quickly make edits to keywords, creatives, groups or campaigns within the application, based on given dimension tags.
• Easily view and analyze data within the application, outside of an account’s structure.
• Ability to create reports based on dimension tags.
• Any added Dimension gives full historical perspective.

Dimension Use Cases

There are a number of ways that you can use dimensions. Following are explanations of each different use case:

Bulk Edits: Tagging objects with a dimension allows for easy editing across campaigns and publishers.

If an advertiser launches new creatives to promote an upcoming sale, tagging these creatives with a dimension will enable the advertiser to make edits in the future. This can be accomplished in a few steps:

1. Create a Saledimension and tag all applicable creatives with the date of the sale.
2. Once the creatives have been tagged, the Saledimension column can be brought into the grid via the View Builder.
3. Filter on the Saledimension column for the date of sale This will bring up only the creatives that were tagged with this dimension.
4. Super select these creatives and then click theEdit button to make changes.

Reporting: Metrics for objects tagged with a dimension are rolled-up and reported on within the Dimensions tab.  To view performance by dimension:

1. Navigate to the Dimensions
2. Click on the specific dimension that you wish to view.
3. Select to view metrics at the Keyword or Creative level.
4. Bring in the desired columns from the View Builder.
5. Create a one-time, re-occurring, or web query report.

Budgeting:  Dimensions can be used to keep track and report on spend across campaigns.

If an advertiser wants to monitor spend by product line, a Product Line dimension can be created and all applicable campaigns can be tagged by product. Within the Dimensions tab, the advertiser will be able to bring in Publisher Cost from the View Builder to see spend rolled by each product tag. The advertiser can create a report or alert based on this view.

Tracking lift: Dimensions can be used to measure performance changes based on specific optimizations.

If an advertiser adds new keywords to a campaign, a dimension can be used to track performance of these new keywords vs the other keywords within the campaign:

1. Create a Keyworddimension and tag the new keywords with the date that they were launched.
2. Tag the other keywords within the campaign with control(or leave them as unassigned).
3. Navigate to theDimension tab to view the performance of the new keywords vs the control keywords.

How To Create A New Dimension

1. Click the Adminlink in the upper-right.
2. Select the Dimensionssub-tab. Note: The Dimensions tab will only appear when a dimension using roll-up is created via Admin > Dimensions. 
3. Click Create(‘plus’ icon).
4. Name your dimension (You will see the name for the Dimensionstab and the column header).
5. You can also enter a description (You will see it in the Descriptionfield of the dimension).
   • Note: Please make sure that you do notuse a dimension name that is already a Platform column header (ie. such as Creative Type or Bid Override). If you happen to create a dimension name that is already a Platform column header, you will run into errors when trying to bulk tag your objects with that dimension name. The system will think you are loading this value to the Platform column header instead of the dimension.
6. For Advanced Setting options, please see the Advanced Settings for Dimensionssection below.
7. Click

How To Tag Dimensions

Multi-Edit

Can be used to tag objects at the same level, with the same tag in the application:

1. On the object grid (Accounts, Campaigns, Groups, Keywords, Creatives), check the items to be tagged. Filters can be used to quickly narrow down the full list.
2. Click the Editbutton above the grid.
3. Select the name of the Dimensionthat will hold the new value.
4. Enter theTag to be applied to the selected items.
5. Click Save. When changing a large number of objects, it may take several minutes for the values to be displayed in the grid.

Bulk Upload

Can be used to simultaneously create and tag new objects. Bulk uploading also allows for the quick tagging of pre-existing objects, using the same or different tags across objects:

1. Create the Dimensionwithin the application (see above Creating a Dimension instructions).
2. Make sure that the Bulk Upload sheet includes a header for the newly created Dimension.
3. Determine which tags to use for each object and enter these values under the newly created dimension’s header.
4. Upload the bulk sheet within the application to tag these objects. Once the upload has processed, tags can be viewed within the grid by selecting the Dimension column from the View Builder.

For easy reference, here are the column headers for a bulk upload, tagging groups or campaigns:

• Campaign: [Account] [Campaign][Dimension1] [Dimension2]
• Group: [Account] [Campaign] [Group][Dimension1] [Dimension2]

Single Edit

Can be used to overwrite previous dimension tags or to make one-off edits:

1. Place a check in the box next to an object and click the Edit 
2. A popup will appear with the option to Go to Settingsor to select the dimension from the drop-down menu.
3. If using the drop-down, select the dimension, enter the tag within the box, and click Save. If using the settings page, find theDimensionsection under settings, enter the tag in the box next to the dimension, and click Save.

Inheriting Dimensions

If a dimension tag is applied at the campaign level, the groups, creatives, and keywords within that campaign will inherit that dimension tag. Child objects will inherit the parent dimension tag (never vice versa), but tags can be overwritten at the child object level.

FTP

You can also manage and automate dimension tagging via FTP. To do so, please follow the instructions in our Help article.

How To Untag Dimensions

To remove a dimension tag from an object, simply follow the procedure for adding a dimension tag as above, but enter a blank value into the tag field via multi-edit or bulk upload. This will remove any existing dimension tagging from that object.

Please note that even if dimensions are no longer tagged at the creative level, you’ll still see a dimension value appear in the Dimension column in the Creatives grid if it’s tagged at a higher level. You can click into the creative to see at which level(s) it is tagged. You may also want to remove the dimension value from the higher level (e.g. campaign level), then check the Creatives tab to see if there are any dimensions tagged at the individual creative level.

How To Change Tagged Dimension Values

You can change the tagged dimension value for an object using single edit, multi-edit, or bulk upload. To edit from the grid, follow these steps:

• Go to the main Keywordsor Creatives tab depending on how the objects are tagged.
• Click onView Builder in the upper-right of the grid and ensure the Dimension column is viewable on the grid.
• Filter the Dimension column for the specific dimension value that needs changing.
• Use the checkboxes to select the appropriate rows (or super-select them all), then clickEdit (‘pencil’ icon) to multi-edit the dimension value.

To change values by bulk upload, run a report with the appropriate columns visible, then change these values and re-upload the sheet.

Known Limitations

Currently, analytics on dimension tags does not support “special” or non-alphanumeric characters such as ‘&’ and ‘+’ when filtering on the History sub-tab. If you are using non-alphanumeric characters in your tags, please use hexadecimal ASCII encoded characters when filtering on the History sub-tab. When filtering on other tabs, the characters can be used as normal.

For reference, a URL encoder/decoder can be found here and a table of ASCII codes here.

Advanced Settings For Dimensions

There are advanced settings which you can alter when adding dimensions within the platform. To find out more about these, please see Advanced Settings for Dimensions.

Best Practices

• Measuring Performance by Keyword Type:Dimensions can be used to track performance by keyword type. For example, an advertiser can track and view performance rolled-up by Brand vs Non-Brand or Broad, Exact vs Phrase vs Content.
• Product Categories:Dimensions can be used to monitor performance across lines of business. To see performance by business unit, create a Business Unit dimension and tag objects to view overall performance by business unit (Home, Electronics, Apparel, etc.).
• Record Keeping:Since dimensions reside solely within the application (and will never be pushed to the publisher nor interfere with campaign structure), they can be used as a way of keeping notes. For example, if many Marketing Managers work on different campaigns within a single account, create a Marketing Manager dimension to tag campaigns with the name of the corresponding Marketing Manager.
• Creative Testing:Dimensions can be used to monitor performance of new ad copy variations or specific promotions. For example, an advertiser just launched new ‘Buy 3, Get 1 Free’ and ‘25% Off Sale’ ad copies. The advertiser can create a Creative dimension and then tag their ad copies with the promotion name. This will allow them to track performance rolled-up by promotion, within the Dimension

Important Notes

• The Platform does not keep a record of changes made to dimension settings.
• When requesting a Dimension Synchronizationor Dimension Refresh, please note these points:
  • This refreshes all of the data in the account.
  • Processing time is proportional to the size of the account.

Advanced Settings For Dimensions

Table Of Contents

1. What Are The Advanced Settings For Dimensions?
2. How To Change Advanced Settings For Dimensions
3. What Is ‘Tagging Only’ Mode?
4. What Is ‘Tagging And Rollup’ Mode?

What Are The Advanced Settings For Dimensions?

When adding or editing dimensions within the Platform, you have the option of changing advanced settings. More specifically, you can select which mode the dimension will be created with – eitherTagging Only or Tagging and Rollup.

How To Change Advanced Settings For Dimensions

You can add or edit dimensions in two ways: either via the main Dimensions tab at the top of the screen, where you can click Create/Edit Dimensions under Related Tasks on the left column, or by clicking Admin in the upper right, then clicking the Dimensions tab. Either of these paths will take you to the relevant screen.

To add a new dimension, just click Create at the top of the grid. Likewise, to edit a dimension, click Edit. In either case, you’ll see the dimension editing pop-up. Near the buttons at the bottom of this pop-up you’ll see the Advanced Settings link. Click this and you’ll be able to choose the mode to create or edit your dimension with. Let’s learn more about these modes.

What Is ‘Tagging Only’ Mode?

This is the default mode for all new dimensions, and covers the majority of dimension uses. With Tagging Only mode enabled, you’ll be able to tag objects, filter based on dimensions, and report on your dimensions. This mode is useful because it offers faster performance through simple tagging of objects.

What Is ‘Tagging And Rollup’ Mode?

This mode offers all the functionality of Tagging Only mode, with a couple of key differences. It’s important to note that using Tagging and Rollup mode may result in a slight reduction in performance, so we’d only recommend it if you’re sure it will be beneficial. Along with everything listed above, Tagging and Rollup mode offers:

• A new subtab within the mainDimensions tab for your new dimension. This screen allows you to display rolled up (summarized) metrics based on either keywords or creatives. You can then create reports based on this data.
• You can filter by dimension from within theHistory tab, which is accessible via the main Home  Just look for the Dimensions filter in the lower left corner.